US migrant crisis exacerbates as root causes are brushed aside

By Shabbir Rizvi

Multiple cities across the United States have declared states of emergency as thousands of asylum seekers are crossing the US-Mexico border due to the end of the infamous 'Title 42' law.

Cities as big and wealthy as Chicago and New York are experiencing a shortage of resources like food and shelter as refugees are forcibly transported from border states to “sanctuary cities.”

The migrants forced into the sanctuary cities face perilous conditions. In Chicago, families are forced to live in police districts, relying on local community donations for food and hygiene products while heavily monitored by officers.

Cities are struggling to provide adequate resources, if any at all, despite thousands of hotels, housing, and food being readily available. 

Travel for these migrants is limited and heavily monitored. The Joe Biden administration’s “Family Expedited Removal Management” enforces some asylum seekers to wear an ankle monitor until a court hearing, which ultimately decides if they are permitted to stay or be deported again. 

The outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot released a statement earlier this month, describing the issue that has gripped the city as a humanitarian crisis.

“The City of Chicago is in the midst of a national humanitarian crisis, and through a unified effort in accordance with its values as a welcoming city, Chicago is doing everything it can to respond to the urgency of this matter,” the mayor said.

Towards the end of April, Lightfoot wrote a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, telling him that Chicago had no more shelters or resources to accommodate the influx of migrants.

"We don't have any more space. I cannot emphasize that enough," she said at a news conference.

According to reports, more than 8,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since last August, when Abbott started sending asylum-seekers to so-called “sanctuary cities” in protest against immigration policies.

Local officials in Chicago have proposed transforming schools and other government buildings into temporary shelters. The process for approval of these ideas is slow and has to go through different levels of local bureaucracy. Meanwhile, hundreds to thousands arrive by busload every week. 

Republican-controlled states have taken a different approach. Texas Governor Abbott is refusing to hold any more migrants within the state, sending busloads of families into Democrat-controlled states and cities, citing Biden’s border policies should be shouldered by his supporters.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has taken it a step further, sending armed national guard troops and drones to “secure the border.” This comes in addition to the 4000+ federal troops already deployed.

“The impacts of Biden’s Border Crisis are felt by communities across the nation, and the federal government’s abdication of duty undermines the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law,” DeSantis said earlier this week.

Republican politicians blame the Biden administration for the simmering crisis. Democrats blame the Trump-era Title 42 law, which was passed in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Through Title 42, the Trump administration was allowed to detain undocumented asylum seekers from Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Mexico, and Nicaragua and send them across the border to Mexico for processing and detainment. 

Title 42 is ending as the Biden administration declares an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. Thousands of asylum seekers have been patiently waiting across the US-Mexico border, some living in gruesome and cruel conditions to avoid living in the even worse detainment camps in the United States.

Thousands crossed back into Mexico and lived in tent cities near the border, patiently waiting for an opportunity to try crossing again.

But, in a bipartisan fashion, US politicians blamed government policies of the asylum seekers’ home countries for the crisis, failing to mention exactly why those conditions exist in the first place.

All countries under Title 42 are subject to cruel and illegal US sanctions, intervention, or meddling.

Cuba has been under an unpopular and illegal blockade for decades now, despite the UN voting to end it. Venezuela is subject to sanctions and asset freezes. Haiti has been subject to multiple US interventions. Other countries listed are subject to US privatization of resources or election meddling. 

However, this is not a product of Biden-era law alone but a routine US foreign policy that ultimately shapes border policy for decades.

The United States creates a political crisis in other countries, a wave of migrants and asylum seekers come flooding in, and politicians either scatter for funding that is ultimately misused or stoke the flames of racism to secure political support.

This is not just limited to the south of the US border - similar crises occurred due to the illegal US invasion and occupation of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries.

The worsening conditions created by US foreign policy forces thousands of people yearly to leave their home countries. Ultimately, many flee north into the United States. This comes at great risk of detainment, robbery, injury, and death. Hundreds die yearly attempting to enter the United States escaping conditions ultimately created by the United States government.

The aggressive and illegal measures inflicted on these countries are creating a migration crisis that politicians are failing to address. The lack of action to stop the root causes only means things will get a lot worse before they get better, all while local officials are left to bear the brunt.

All the while, asylum seekers who are looking for a better life due to cruel US foreign policy are forced to endure US domestic policy: weeks spent at police stations or shelters while wearing ankle monitors, waiting to be told whether they can stay or go.

Shabbir Rizvi is a Chicago-based political analyst with focus on US internal security and foreign policy.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV)

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